Stair-tread, &amp;c.



' No,-'743,164. PATENTED NOV. s, 1903.

I. W. HUESTIS.

s'mm TREAD, 6:0.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1, 1899.

7 N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET m: spams Perms 0o.- PHom-Lmm. wnsmuaton. 04 c No. 743,164. b

NITED STATES Patented. November 3, 1903.

FREDERICK W. HUESTIS, OF BOSTON,

MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNIVERSAL SAFETY-TREAD COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

STAlR-TREAD, 81.0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 743,164, dated November 3, 1903. Application filed September 1, 1899. Serial No. 729,220. (No model.)

1'0 ail, whom, it may concern; Be it known that I, FREDERICK W. Hons- TIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston; in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stair-Treads and the Like, of which the followingis a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a top plan view, Fig. 2 an edge view, and Fig. 3 a cross-sectional view, on line 3 3 of Fig. 1 of my improved tread. Fig. 4.- is a top plan view,'Fig. 5 an edge view, and Fig. 6 a cross-sectional view, on line 6 6 of Fig. 4 of a modified form of my new tread.

Figs. 7 to 12, inclusive, illustrate other modifications.

The object of my invention is to provide non -slipping stair-treads, sidewalk-lights, zo coal-ho1e covers, wagon, carriage, and car steps, door mats, and mats for decks of steamers and men-of-war, and any and all other uses to which non-slipping treads may be put, my new treads comprising in their construction a hard durable metal of any kind combined with non-slipping material of any kind and being preferably made of steel and lead.

In the drawings illustrating the principle of my invention and the best mode now known to me of applying that principle, a is a rod or wire of hard metal, preferably steel, bent upon orin relation to itself in any suitable manner, so as to form spaces a between opposed portions of the tire, some or all of these spaces being filled in any suitable manner with non-slipping material b-such as lead, for example. Inasmuch as the opposed'walls of the spaces a curve away from each other, 40 so forming overhangs at a a below (as well as above) the middle of the wires or rods,crosssectionally considered the lead I) in each space a is anchored on the under side of the tread by the overhangs at a of the side walls of the spaces which receive the non-slipping material. It will be observed that a tread made substituted for the rod or wire, the opposite in this way is reversible that is, it may be used either side up. The end portions a of the rod or wire a are preferably bent angularly past the ends of the reversely-bent bodyforming portion of the wire and brazed at their extremities or otherwise secured firmly in place, so as to hold the tread in shape. If desired, one or more base-supports 0. may be used to keep the body-forming portion of the rod or wire in proper relation one portion to another, these supports not onlysupporting the flat surfaces of the tread when it is in use, but also binding the tread edgewise, so as to prevent lateral displacement of the hard and non-slipping material.

It will be readily understood that the rod or ,wire may be bent into any desired form, either rectangular, as shown, or polygonal, or be coiled, so as to form a circular tread, all without departure from my invention.

Treads embodying my present invention are very economically made and are readily formed into a great variety of shapes to meet either general or special requirements as to configuration. Preferably the wire or rod is continuous.

In Figs. 4, 5, and 6, illustrating a modification, a metal tape (1, preferably of steel, is

edges of the bent tape between the wear-surfaces of the tread and the spaces between the bent tape or strip being filled in whole or in part with lead or other non-sli ppin g material. In some instances the lead will be held sufficiently fast in place for some uses without any treatment of the tapes; but in practice I prefer to form opposed portions of the tape that is-to say, the side walls of the lead-receivin g spaces-with recesses,as at d',through which the lead may pass, so as to become securely anchored in the metal portion of the tread, or being formed with a lengthwise depression d on its fiat side, as in Figs. 7 and 8, in which the non-slipping material is an- 0 chored when the tape is bent so as to bring portions of it in opposition to other portions.

In Fig. 9 I show a cross-sectional view of another modification in which the base-support f is dish-shaped, the combined hard and non-slipping tread being mounted in said dishshaped support.

In Fig. 10 I show another modification in which the hard-metal portions are a series of separate strips g, mounted at their ends in the transverse supports g.

In Fig. 11 I show another modification in which the hard metal is a continuous strip h, crimped and mounted on the base-support h, with the bends h lying in the opposite flat sides of the tread, the lead it filling the spaces between opposed portions of the hard-metal strip.

In Fig. 12 I show another modification in which a hard-metal tape is crimped and set edgewise, with spaces j between its opposed 7 

